Yes. You don’t have to have your work email on your phone, and your main social media app doesn’t need to be there either. If you check email at your desk all day, it’s okay to stand up and go live your life away from the office. When I took email and LinkedIn off my phone, it was the first time I had the true out of office feeling in forever.
Why does my client expect answers late at night?
This came from an Idea Slam question on the show. An owner told me their biggest client only communicates after 10 p.m. and expects responses right away. They’ve been dealing with it because the client pays so well, and they hate it.
The answer is something you may not want to hear. Your client expects answers after 10 p.m. because you’ve given them answers after 10 p.m. in the past.
If they texted you at 10:00 and you never answered until the next morning, it wouldn’t take long for them to stop expecting it. So you kind of did it to yourself. I hate to be that guy, but it’s absolutely true.
Does my client have a right to after-hours answers?
Check your agreement. If it doesn’t say they’re getting 24/7 support, you’re not obligated to answer after hours.
That’s so obvious that we forget it, because we’re blinded by the revenue we desperately need. We forget these kinds of things because we’re trying to make the mortgage. You need to remember that those things exist.
Do I really need my work email on my phone?
I was coaching a client and I talked them through the difference between a work phone and a personal phone. Not everybody has two phones, so I’m not saying go buy a separate one. But this device, especially when you work from home, does not need to be an extension of your computer.
When I said, “Here’s an idea. Take your email off your phone,” they blinked and looked at me like, what? It shouldn’t be a revolutionary idea. But hearing somebody say it’s okay is powerful.
I know this because I did it. You check your Gmail 40, 50 times a day because it’s right there. Every time you pick up the phone, you check the damn thing.
What about my social media app?
I’ll go one step further. Whatever your primary social media channel is, that app doesn’t need to be on your phone either.
I know what you’re going to say. The algorithms like it when you respond right away. Cool. I like it when you get to rest and have a conversation with your spouse without a phone in your face.
I like it when you go to the golf course and you don’t run to the cart to check your phone every other hole. When your email and your core social app live on your phone, you will never get away. It feels like you’re working all the time because you’re working all the time.
What if something urgent happens after hours?
When you work from home, the office is two rooms away. If something was burning and you felt like you needed to check your email before bed, fine, do it. I don’t recommend it, but you could.
What you get in return is that out of office feeling. I bet there’s stuff going on in the business, but I don’t need to worry about it right now because I’m off. Highly, highly recommend it.
What should I do this week?
Here’s the homework. Take your work email off your phone, and take your primary social media app off with it. Check them at your desk, where the work happens.
Then silence your notifications at night and answer that late client the next morning. If they end up firing you because they want answers after 10 p.m., I’m sorry. Wendy’s is closed.
This came from Businessing with Pat Miller. Watch the full May 6, 2026 episode.
More on this topic: Time and burnout answers from the Small Business Owners Community